This wasn’t the way the script for Didier Drogba’s farewell game in Montreal was supposed to play out.

But the final chapter of his Impact story hasn’t been written yet and there’s still time for a happy ending.

With a sellout crowd of 61,004 at Olympic Stadium Tuesday night, the biggest star to wear an Impact uniform started Game 1 of the MLS Eastern Conference final against Toronto FC on the bench as a substitute. The 38-year-old hasn’t been in the starting lineup since Sept. 24 — a span of eight games — and didn’t play at all in the final three regular-season games, refusing to suit up after being left out of the starting 11 for a 2-2 tie with Toronto FC on Oct. 16 that clinched a playoff spot. He also didn’t play in the first two playoff games, saying he had a bad back.

Drogba received a loud ovation from the Big O fans when he came into Tuesday’s game in the 71st minute, replacing Matteo Mancosu with the Impact leading 3-1. Toronto’s Michael Bradley made it 3-2 two minutes later and Drogba would have been minus-1 on the night if he was a hockey player.

But during his 19 minutes of action, Drogba had two of the Impact’s nine shots in the game, missing a great scoring opportunity just wide while playing on an artificial surface he detests.

Game 2 next Wednesday at Toronto’s BMO Field will be on natural grass and if I was Impact coach Mauro Biello, I’d put Drogba back in the starting 11.

The Impact had a losing record with Drogba starting this season, but his 10 goals in 22 games were the second-most on the club, trailing only Ignacio Piatti’s 17 in 32 games. Drogba also tied for the team lead in assists with six.

After Drogba first arrived at Trudeau airport last season to a hero’s welcome, the Impact’s Patrice Bernier said: “For Montreal, as an athlete, I don’t think we’ve had as big of a star even if you count hockey and baseball and all of the other sports.”

The team captain was correct. Big games are meant for big players and Game 2 in Toronto will be the biggest in Impact history and Drogba remains the team’s biggest and arguably best player when he really wants to perform.

Biello made the right move when he originally decided to take Drogba out of the starting 11 and the Impact has won four straight playoff games with him starting on the bench. Being relegated to the bench in MLS must be a huge blow to the pride and ego of a world soccer superstar like Drogba.

He certainly didn’t handle being left out of the starting 11 well, but Drogba has made it clear since returning that he is committed to helping in any way he can and played a key role coming off the bench in the conference semifinal win over the New York Red Bulls. Drogba made it official after Tuesday’s game that he won’t be returning to Montreal, but didn’t rule out playing elsewhere, which seems very unlikely at his age.

“This was my last game here, so now let’s focus on the final,” he said. “There is still one, maybe two games to go. Let’s talk about next week’s game. That is more important.”

No Canadian team has advanced to the MLS Cup and the Impact has a great chance of doing it. Their chances would be a lot better if they hadn’t blown a 3-0 lead Tuesday, but a draw in Toronto would be enough to advance.

Road goals are the first tiebreaker in the series, so the fact Toronto scored two at the Big O gives them a big advantage and also means the Impact can’t afford to sit back and protect their one-goal lead. A 1-0 Toronto victory would be enough to send them to the MLS Cup against Seattle or Colorado. Seattle won Game 1 of the Western Conference final 2-1 at home Tuesday.

The game in Toronto could be the last one Drogba plays anywhere. The odds are he’ll end up with the coaching job at Chelsea he seemed to want before the start of this MLS season, but Drogba didn’t make it this far as a player without having a ton of pride, along with his immense talent.

Drogba’s teammates still seem to love him and so do the fans he celebrated with in the Big O stands after Tuesday’s win, which was followed by a two-minute video tribute to him from the club.

The stage is set to let Drogba write the final chapter of his Montreal story.

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Stu Cowan: Time to let Didier Drogba write final chapter of his Impact story